Orange County Fire Authority Loses Management of Ambulance Contracts

State officials direct OCFA to submit a comprehensive plan

IRVINE – Decision means big changes in how services for 911 calls will be doled out.

State officials have stripped the Orange County Fire Authority of its role in selecting ambulance contracts for most of the county, rejecting a last-ditch effort to keep the process in OCFA hands.

Instead, officials from the state’s Emergency Medical Services Authority told county officials they must submit a comprehensive plan of how emergency ambulance services will be provided in the county – and then Orange County Emergency Medical Services can oversee the bidding process.

The decision means big changes in how lucrative ambulance service contracts for 911 calls are doled out throughout the county, a process that officials at the state’s Emergency Medical Services Authority said had been raising questions for years.

Some contracts had not gone out to bid despite statutory requirements and, in some cities, contracts were awarded to companies that had not made the top bid, said Dan Smiley, chief deputy director for the California EMS Authority.

Most concerning, Smiley said, is that Orange County has not submitted a comprehensive plan on how ambulance services are provided since 2007, though it is required to do so annually.

“There appeared to be significant confusion in Orange County as to what the roles and responsibilities were, hence our request for a plan,” Smiley said.

State officials sent several requests for it, he said.

“I can’t remember what the exact response was, but I think it was something like, ‘We’re working on it,’ ” he said. “Suffice it to say we didn’t receive a plan.”

As it stood previously, OCFA would screen possible companies for minimal qualifications, then evaluate and rank the proposals according to a grading panel. It would then be up to the cities to select their contractor, though according to a January staff report from the OCFA, the winner was not always highest ranked.

OCFA Battalion Chief Kelly Zimmerman said the agency received a verbal notification it would no longer be handling the contracts Friday morning, and the department would be willing to work for a smooth transition.

“Everyone is still waiting to see what comes in writing,” said Jean Pasco, communications manager for the county.

Though the way the contracts will be awarded remains to be seen, state officials said they must be handled by Orange County’s Emergency Medical Services.

“The state has stepped in and said the county can’t delegate its authority,” to OCFA, Pasco said.

OCFA’s handling of ambulance contracts has come into question in the past, in particular because of a September memo from a battalion chief that invited current ambulance companies to a “current provider meeting” ahead of the bidding process.

The memo prompted criticism from the Board of Supervisors and suggestions that the county would intercede in the agency.

Fire Chief Keith Richter apologized for the “poorly worded,” email.

Still, it seems management of the program will be leaving OCFA hands after all.

During a four-hour meeting Thursday in Sacramento, county officials attempted to persuade the state’s Emergency Medical Services Authority to keep the program as is. The meeting included Sam J. Stratton, Orange County EMS medical director.

OCFA officials did not attend the meeting, county and state officials said.

At the base of the decision, Smiley said, was a 2010 court decision that stated the local EMS agency could not delegate its authority to another department.

The county’s plan must specify how emergency service will be organized and managed, how communication is handled, what training is done and what hospitals are used in critical areas, Smiley said.

“There is a good possibility that the county Board of Supervisors may be the ones entering into a contract with the provider, but I think there is a lot of work to be done at the local (EMS) agency,” Smiley said.

Nineteen contracts for the county expire on Aug. 31, Pasco said.
Orange County has not submitted a comprehensive plan on how ambulance services are provided since 2007.

No comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Who is Mission Ambulance?

We are Mission Ambulance, Southern California's choice in providing basic and advanced critical care medical transportation services. For over a decade, we've been answering the needs of the many communities we serve with unmatched courtesy, compassion and commitment. Our mission is to serve, and our attention to service is what makes us the fastest-growing medical transportation provider in the region. Our Skilled staff of Emergency Medical Technicians and Registered Nurses is ready to serve you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With our cutting edge dispatch technology and GPS tracking systems ensure that you'll always receive prompt, timely service - day or night, rain or shine.

Additional Information

Recent News

U.S. News & World Report Lisa Esposito Jul 14th 2017 12:42PM It’s time to pay more attention to liver cancer. Even as breast-cancer, lung-cancer and other cancer fatalities continue to drop, liver cancer is now the fastest-rising cause of U.S. cancer deaths, a recent study shows. Since the mid-1980s, death rates from liver cancer have […]

By TRISHA PASRICHA MD Jul 10, 2017, 6:29 PM ET If you ever felt that you needed coffee to survive, you may be on to something. Drinking coffee is linked to a decreased risk of death, according to two large studies published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. One of the most widely […]

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes and a way to manage nicotine cravings if you’re trying to quit. But here are 3 good reasons to give them a thumbs down. 1. Safety concerns After analyzing e-cigarette samples, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that some products contain […]